It goes without saying that what the final video game product ends up being is not necessarily how it started off. All titles go through changes during development. The likes of No Man's Sky being accused of false advertising is certainly at the extreme end of this. Generally, it's understood that what's demonstrated in pre-rendered footage is not indicative of the final release. But one person has shown that the newly-launched Dying Light 2: Stay Human may have had some drastic changes and a bit of a downgrade in the run-up to its release.
In a video posted to YouTube recently, in their "Direct Comparison" series, user Nick930 has shown side-by-side gameplay footage from Dying Light 2 which compares how the game looked during E3 in 2018 and 2019, and how much it was changed before finally coming out a few days ago. The results are quite interesting, but it should be said that the video is not intended as a scathing comment about the game's development cycle, and simply offers up all three versions of Techland's title as a way to see what has changed over time.
Dying Light 2 is already a success on Steam, but one of the most intriguing differences over the years seems to be that the final retail release had a bit of a tonal shift. In the E3 2018 demo reel, it can be seen that the world is a lot murkier, more grey, and feels like it would be dirtier. By comparison, the version that everyone is currently playing looks a lot brighter, more colorful, and has much more lush vegetation on the rooftops of buildings.
It also became apparent to Nick930 that there were some aspects that had been given a bit of a downgrade. For example, buildings seemed to be less diverse in terms of their design, one key feature of the city was missing from the retail release, and one segment had significantly fewer zombies. For an open world game about zombies, that would seem like an off choice. However, this could be the studio wishing to save on resources for the final release, but that's speculation.
In general, it's not a critical video, but it is interesting to see just how much has changed since the initial public demonstrations. In general, Dying Light 2 has had a mixed critical reception, with many praising the parkour elements. The fact that this video shows what can happen during development does signify what goes on in the industry, and it may put some people off, but probably not everyone.
Dying Light 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
